count2infinity wrote:I ebayed a canon EOS rebel xt. picked it up for $200 with the stock lens and 2 gig memory card and pretty much all original packaging. have taken some good photos with it.

I've had the same model for quite a few years now. Ebay has some great prices on the model, like c2i said. I would think these older generation models would be a great place to start...if your wife finds out she isn't that into it, you are only out $100-200.

Also, anyone have any experience with these new Olympus Pen E-PM1 models? A commercial caught my eye a few months back and then I got to tinker around with my cousins at a family picnic, though I didn't get a great look at it. I'm curious to see what other think. It's a tad expensive, but I think it would appear to be a great in-betweener if you want better quality than a point-and-shoot but don't want to lug around a standard dslr everywhere. It's more a curiosity for me than anything unless I get the chance to really demo it.

Thanks to all who responded. I really think we're going to look further into the Canon EOS Rebel XT. The price is right for her at just over $200, and while the features and quality likely won't be anywhere near the higher models, my guess is, based on c2i's experience, she'll have a good camera to experiment with and to see if this newfound hobby is a passing phase or a longterm thing. I appreciate all the help!

pittsoccer33 wrote:Keep your eye on the XS as well. Will probably be a little more money but its a newer model and it uses an SD card, whereas the XT uses Compact Flash and those are not common any longer.

that's a good call. i didn't recognize the memory card for the XT. luckily my old desktop computer has a slot for that type of memory. an SD card would be way better.

these cameras also cannot be plugged right into the pc for charging and file transfer purposes. you will need a dedicated card reader and will have to remove the battery pack to charge it like you would an old school camcorder.

battery life on my XS is great though. i will not use the camera for two or three months and will still have a charged battery.

count2infinity wrote:Yeah, I loved the smoky mountains. Cades Cove was nice, but I enjoyed all of our hikes to waterfalls. I also need a much higher zoom. I could barely zoom in on anything.

Oddly, we were able to get to more waterfalls with my daughter (5) last year, than we were this year. I don't know what the problem was. The highlight of the trip had to be watching three black bears climbing up and down trees.

any thoughts on: T3i with 18/55 lens. You have to pay $999 up front, but after the rebate it's $600. Plus you get the 55-250mm lens which is very well reviewed. You also get a 16GB card and a camera bag. Not to mention the photo printer.